Facebook Has A Mobile Ad Network On The Way, And It Could Be Huge New Business

Facebook's long-awaited mobile ad network is finally on its way,
meaning the social network will soon be using its valuable
consumer data to sell ads on other companies' mobile apps and web
sites.

According to Re/code, Facebook will officially announce
details of the network at its annual F8 developers conference in
San Francisco at the end of the month.

The network is a potentially huge business for Facebook because
cookies, the small pieces of code that have for years been used
to track people's internet whereabouts on desktop devices, do not
work inside mobile apps.

It also will allow Facebook to expand the reach of its mobile app
install ads, which have become a huge chunk of its multi-billion
dollar mobile ad business running only on Facebook's mobile site
and app.

Due to cookies' lack of potency in mobile apps, where
a recent study suggests people are currently spending 86% of
their smartphone browsing time, advertisers have had a hard time
pushing targeted ads to smartphone users.

Now, brands and app developers will be able to leverage
Facebook's data to reach people even when they are not using
Facebook.

For instance, Facebook, which knows John Doe is a male who has
logged into Facebook on his iPhone, could show him an ad for
another app while he's playing Pet Rescue Saga.

By comparison, competing mobile ad networks like Millennial Media
target people by creating general audience profiles based on the
apps members of a certain demographic are likely to use. As such,
the mobile web has created a unique opportunity for companies
like Facebook, Twitter, and Google that have services people log
into, and can therefore be tied back to a real name or e-mail
address.

This means that Facebook can show an ad meant for 18-to-35
year-old male John Doe rather than one meant for someone who uses
a lot of sports related apps and therefore could be a male
between the ages of 18 and 35.

The move will pit Facebook against Google's AdMob mobile network
and Twitter's forthcoming app install ads, which are slated to on
Twitter's mobile properties, as well as those in the MoPub mobile
network it purchased last year.